The present invention is directed to the replacement of existing pneumatic thermostats for VAV boxes, reheat coils, classroom unit ventilators, fan coil units, fin tube radiators, and the like, with direct digital controllers.
In existing buildings there are thousands of pneumatic thermostats. These pneumatic thermostats are used to operate variable air volume (VAV) boxes, reheat coils, classroom unit ventilators, fan coil units, fin tube radiators, and the like. While the pneumatic thermostats provide many advantages, the pneumatic thermostats are not amenable to monitor and control by a central monitoring system, and do not control as accurately as direct digital controllers. Pneumatic controls also require frequent recalibration and maintenance. Many advantages could be provided by the replacement of the existing pneumatic thermostats with direct digital controllers. However, the "drop in" replacement of pneumatic thermostats with direct digital controllers is not feasible because the control and power supply wiring needed by the direct digital controller are not available in existing buildings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,080 to Clark et al. and a continuation-in-part thereof, U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,666 to Clark, show an air terminal control linked to an air system control by wiring.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,012 to Tate shows a motor operated damper which is remotely controlled via a one way link to shut the damper when a signal from a remote transmitter is received by a receiver in a control circuit. The damper controls the airflow for a particular room or office in a group of rooms or offices sharing a single thermostatic control. The control circuit automatically reopens the damper after a delay period.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,719 to Cherry et al shows a portable thermostat coupled to the control unit of a heating or cooling device by a one way radio link.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,913 to Keldmann shows a feeler gauge for sensing air and radiation temperature and transmitting the same using a wireless transmitter to a regulator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,950 to Reeser et al. shows a portable battery-powered command module, i.e. a thermostat, for remotely adjusting the temperature of a closed environment via a one way link. The module transmits up or down temperature signals to a receiver by means of a modulated radio frequency carrier wave.